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Monday, February 20, 2012

Organic Food @ Opika, 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya

I seem to be haunting the 1 Utama shopping mall lately.

Kinda weird since I've actually stopped visiting it for some time already ever since I discovered looking for a parking space during the weekend is virtually impossible unless I employ devious secret ways to score a spot.

I guess the draw of new eateries to explore is too strong too resist just like Superman reacts to all those kryptonite.

I was a little curious about this organic spot within the mall.

A rather brave thing I reckon especially since mall goers tend to prefer binging on other treats since they hang out in that air conditioned space to relax during the weekend.

Maybe that is why we found ourselves being the one of the few tables there during the weekend.

It is rather a pity since the general public don't seem to take to this kind of food as they would have discovered a delicious meal within these mod looking walls (and a funky uneven ceiling) here.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the quinoa salad (RM20). Given a modern look, since it was shaped in a nice ring mould, the fluffy ancient grains were tossed with local herbs, diced avocado and mango. A spicy reddish sauce, prawns and a salad were served on the side.

I loved the contrast of textures - fluffy with a slight bite that melded well with the creamy green cubes and the slightly sweet mango squares.

Quinoa is always a preferred choice for both of us since we had ditched rice for that healthier grain long ago for our daily meals.

Splashie Boy love his beef hence it was the Swedish meatballs (RM28) for him while I had the nasi ulam with ayam percik (RM30).

The meatballs were perfectly done - with a nice crust on the outside and a juicy beefy centre. I only managed to get a small sampler piece since he polished everything from the word go.

I enjoyed my aromatic nasi ulam made from brown rice and herbs. Toasted grated coconut and dried shrimps seem to give it a nice toasty flavour. The ayam percik was also very well done - made from ayam kampung hence there was no fatty bits but still juicy and tender. I liked how they dressed my plate with soft salad leaves too and crunchy lotus root chips.

Dessert was a revised black forest cake (RM14) and a scoop of their artisan ice cream (RM6.90).

The cake was decent stuff with a chocolate sponge layers and bits of cherries with shaved chocolate but I preferred the soft vanilla ice cream. This tasted very homemade with a nice soft texture and the aroma of the vanilla beans.

The space is huge as it stretches to include a market that is not fully stocked up at the moment.

A word on the juices, they also do a rather good selection of them that we enjoyed. The mixed varieties are priced around RM17.90.

While I feel the food is wholesome and cooked with a lot of love and care, I hope more customers will patronise the place in the future since things were rather looking quiet here. Maybe more organic food lovers will drop by this place once the Farmers Market starts in earnest. That is set to kick off from the first Sunday of the month from March onwards from 8-11am at the Central Park.

(Pork Free. Place is where the old food court used to be. For more pictures, see the Flickr set.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

18 comments:

Ooh, ayam percik made from kampung chicken... I've been having a craving for the village variety of our favourite fowl of late so this sounds perfect. The lotus root chips are a nice touch, aren't they? :)